I'd like to address the topic of delay and synchronization during internet jams. I feel that the very approach of trying to accomplish audio synch in the current medium of audio over the internet is somewhat inappropriate. In a way it's kind of like trying to get flute sounds out of a guitar. Maybe it's possible, but it's really not in the nature of the beast.
To be sure there will come a day when the lag monster is largely defeated and we can jam with simultaneous artists, but that day is not today. I remember the frustration expressed by my fellow grad students whose simulators kept their workstations or even supercomputer accounts busy for long periods of time. I had no such problems as I had chosen to restrict my simulation constraints such that compute times were short. Looking back, this was appropriate as I was matching what I wanted to accomplish to what I had as a resource.
In a similar way, perhaps we should not be attempting to defeat the lag monster, but rather to create novel musical jamming techniques that operate within the timing constraints of the web. Now, that's easy for me to say and do because via the power of ChucK and my amateur musician status I can do just about whatever I want, and others may not have that luxury for various reasons. So please accept my apologies if you are limited in this way creatively beyond your control, however I do maintain that we should be doing what we can do, not what we want to do.
Back when I constrained my simulator complexity within the available compute constraints, I suffered the consequences of riling up anger and derision from those without that freedom or that choice. I hope that will not be the case with this message. Rather, I wonder if we can discuss ways to create music that fits the web rather than discuss programming that accomplishes synchronization over a web that denies it.
I welcome your comments on this topic and I apologize in advance if I have offended anyone. Just my two cents, eh?
Les